Proverbs 5:9
in Proverbs 5lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;
KJV
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGive not thine honour unto aliens and thy years unto the cruel, lest haply strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger, and thou moan at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. For who are aliens from us but malignant spirits, who are separated from the lot of the heavenly country? And what is our honour but that, though made in bodies of clay, we are yet created after the image and likeness of our Maker?
This site's exposition
do not turn aside from the words of my mouth
on Proverbs 5:7-11
The counsel turns practical, “Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,” making distance the safeguard. The losses named are severe and public, “your years to one who is cruel,” and “your labors” spent to “enrich the house of a foreigner”.
This site's exposition
lest you concede your vigor to others
Vigor translates hod, the splendor of youth, the word Daniel 10:8 uses of the strength that drained from him. Albert Barnes reads the cruel one as whoever takes the years of the man enslaved by lust and shows no mercy. Youth is the price.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not give your honor to others, etc. Do not subject the honor by which you were created in the image of God to the wills of unclean spirits, nor waste the granted time of living according to the will of the cruel adversary. For …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Years - The flower of thine age. The cruel - To the harlot, who though she pretends love, yet in truth is one of the most cruel creatures in the world, wasting thy estate and body without pity, and damming thy soul forever. Strangers - Not only the strange women themselves, but others who are in league with them. labours - Wealth gotten by thy labours.
Lest thou give thine honour unto others,.... To strumpets, their children, attendants, servants, and friends; that is, either wealth or riches, which make men honourable; or their three, credit, and reputation, which are lost by keeping company with such persons; or the outward comeliness of the body, and inward rigour of the mind, which are impaired by adulterous practices.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thine honor - i. e., “The grace and freshness of thy youth” (compare Hos 14:6; Dan 10:8). The thought of this is to guard the young man against the sins that stain and mar it. The slave of lust sacrifices “years” that might have been peaceful and happy to one who is merciless.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thine honour--in whatever consisting, strength (Pr 3:13) or wealth. thy years--by cutting them off in dissipation. unto the cruel--for such the sensual are apt to become.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Lest thou give thine honor - The character of a debauchee is universally detested: by this, even those of noble blood lose their honor and respect. Thy years unto the cruel - Though all the blandishments of love dwell on the tongue, and the excess of fondness appear in the whole demeanor of the harlot and the prostitute; yet cruelty has its throne in their hearts; and they will rob and murder (when it appears to answer their ends) those who give their strength, their wealth, and their years to them. The unfaithful wife has often murdered her own husband for the sake of her paramour, and has given him over to justice in order to save herself. Murders have often taken place in brothels, as well as robberies; for the vice of prostitution is one of the parents of cruelty.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
lest strangers be sated with your strength The prophets of Baal, who collect money with their lies and their hastiness.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| תִּתֵּ֣ן | titen | you should give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לַאֲחֵרִ֣ים | laacherim | to others | H312 → | |
| הוֹדֶ֑ךָ | hodekha | vigor your | H1935 → | |
| וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָ | ushenoteikha | and years your | H8141 → | 877 times |
| לְאַכְזָרִֽי׃ | leakhzari | to a cruel [person] | H394 → | 8 times |
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
תִּתֵּ֣ןyou should give
titenH5414 →2011 times
לַאֲחֵרִ֣יםto others
laacherimH312 →
הוֹדֶ֑ךָvigor your
hodekhaH1935 →
וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָand years your
ushenoteikhaH8141 →877 times
לְאַכְזָרִֽי׃to a cruel [person]
leakhzariH394 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 13:26Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:1–8
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
- 1 Kings 3:13
Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
- 2 Chronicles 1:12
therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”
- 2 Samuel 12:24–25
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
- 1 Kings 11:1–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Gregory the Dialogist, Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.